Art of making motion pictures



' Oct. 30, 1928. 1,690,039

E. scHUFFTAN ART OFv MAKING MOTION PICTURES original Filed sept. 15, 1923 2 sheets-sheet 1 Oct. 30, 1928;

E. scHUFFTAN ART OF MAKING MOTION PICTURES- 2 sheets-sheet 2 Original Filed Sept. 15, 19225 Patented Oct. 30, 1 92'8.

UNIf'rED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IUGEN SCHFFTAN, `OIE BERLIN-WILMERSDORF, GERMANY.

ART OF 'MAKING MOTION PICTURES.-.

Original application led- September 15, 19.23, ,Serialv No. 663,011, and in Germany September 13, 1922. Divided and this application filed September 5, '1925. Serial No. 54,731.

This application is a division of Patent No.` 1,569,789, granted January 12, 1926, (Reissue No. 16,446, granted October 26, 1926) for which I have filed applications as follows in Germany, September 13, 1922, Serial K. 83291 VI/57b2; February 10, 1923, Serial K. 84,844 VI/57b2; May 9, 1923, Serial K. 85,851, VI/57a2; July 14, 1923, Serial K. 86,578 VI/57a2.

This inventionrelates broadly to the making of motion pictures in which a composite picture is produced only a part ofwhich represents an image of a natural object, and it refers in particular to the art of producing cinematographic or moving picture photographs from composite, scenery containing objects, as set forth in Patent No.1,569,7 89, granted January 12, 1926, (Reissue No. 1.6,- 446, granted October 26, 1926), and in which only a portion of the obj ect to be represented is in full natural size, While other portions of lthe objects, models orthe like, are onascale, diHerent from the rest of the object, the vari'- ous portions being so combined and united that the resulting composite picture Will profduce the same impression as though it has been obtained from a unitary object ofnatural size. Inaccordance with previous suggestions, of combining partial objects of.

natural Size with models, photographs o`r the like on a smaller scale, it has been attempted to combine the various sections into a unitary picture by a reflecting glass plate; with this suggestion and other methods of the previous art there has been, however, the inconvenience that the reflecting glass plate, in view of its refiecting both atits front as Well as at its rear sides,` reduces doubleimages which 1t is impossib e to combine intounitar-y pictures Without a halo, land there is the further 1nconvenience that, inv viewof the comparatively reduced reflection which can be obtained with an ordinary glass plate, the images are dulled particularlyin that portion thereof which is obtained by reection, and it` is impossible to so blend the different sections of the picture as to obviate 'fthe effects of difference of illumination. v

In view thereof, it is-one of the main ob` jects of my invention to provide means of obviating these difficulties, and to produce an absolutely unitary composite picture Without the disturbing effect of differences of light and halo, and furthermore to generally improve and facilitate the methods of manu- -With my invention b ferr-ed embodiment of the invention in which d the surface confronting the photographic camera is provided With the reflecting mirror coating or the like, the important resultl is accomplished Athat the disturbinginfluence of'refraction or reflection o-n the uncoated front vsurface of the glass plate which is liableto occur in the. usual mirrors With rear- Wardly disposed reflecting surface is eliminated. In furthenpursuance of my invention and' in the preferred embodiment thereof semi-transparent or translucent. mirrors are used, that is to say, mirrors'which are provided With such a very thin reiecting coating that said coating,\upon looking on the mirror before a light background will. appear as perfectly transparent, while, if viewed upon a black or opaqueback-ground, the effect will be that of a perfect mirror.

In the practice of my invention, and generally speaking in making use of the reflection of 'a partial object as a means of building up the final picture models which, by the Way, are generally carried out on a smaller scale both for reasons of economy and transportationand for other reasons frequently fail to produce a satisfactory representation of the bodil impression of" the particular object, thus or instance in the case of classical and other buildings which have undergone the ravaging and, so to speak, individualizing influences of time and of the atmosphere, or, in case the supplemental object is to represent moving parts` of a landscape, such: as ay maritime scene Withsea in motion or. treesagitated by the storm or the like. This difficulty is obviated in accordance replacing` the other- Wise used model bodi y by an immovable or a moving picture, a photograph or an illuminated diapositive or lantern slide arranged behind the mirror. The image in these cases is preferably produced by projecting the same upon a translucent special projecting surface which is disposed at the rear of the mirror. In the case of the employment of a semi-transparent mirror such pictures may be projected directly upon the back-side of the mirror itself. It is advisableto reduce the scale of such projection p-ictures, so that loss of light which would be liable to'occur when made on a larger scale and which would interfere with the satisfactory reproduction by photography is avoided. However, the projection pictures should be of suiiiciently large size themselves, inasmuch asl -they should be disposed at a sufficient distance from the lens of the photographic camera, as

, vention, use is made of masks or similes corresponding to different sections of the picture and one of which, for instance, is adapted to cover up all those portions of the picture of the l,natural object which it is not desired to lreproduce by the reflection of the mirror,

while another mask or simile which may be adapted to complement the other mask into a silhouette or the like of theI entire natural j object will operate to cover up the remaining corresponding portions of the diapositive or projection picture.

In accordance therewith the cinematographic picture in an exemplification of my invention may be taken in such a manner that a picture is prepared first of the parts to be reproduced in natural size of thelobj ect under consideration by means of the mirror, whereupon a separate picture is prepared ofthe supplemental portion by means of the diapositive or of the projection picture. In the first stage of this process all those p-arts of the natural object to be reproduced by the diapositiveI or by the projection are rendered inactive by Vthe covering, up of the picture window of the camera at thecorresponding lpoints. In the succeeding stage the film ribon is turned back and the supplemental mask is inserted in the camera so as to cover up the previously reproduced portion. By operating in this manner two separate pictures are obtained in succession upon the same film ribbon and on complemental portions which are combined and blended into the correct film picture. The entire procedure may also be performed in the inverse order.

For the carrying out of the method accordin to this invention it is important to employ on y mirrors possessing a reflecting coat by which a sufficient satisfactory mirror action is insured. In case of the employment of opaque mirrors, the reflecting mirror coat is removed from the glass plate carrying such coating, so that only that portion of the mirror coating remains which is necessary for the reflection lof the obj ect of natural size. When using a semi-transparent mirror, however,

it is sufficient to dispose the masks between the mirror and the objects, in order to produce the same effect as in the case of mirrors. In the case of projection pictures arranged at the rear of the mirror or when the projecl tion is produced on the back side of the semitransparent mirror, the mirror and the projecting surface should be kept in the dark, inasmuch as any foreign incident light will greatly interfere with` the sharpness of the pictures.

The invention will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing showing by way of eXemplification and in a diagrammatic manner.' in Fig. l the entire arrangement of the different pieces of apparatus and of the object. Fig. 2 is a sectional supported on the feet 5. In the straight, un-

broken line of vision extending from the camera 2 through the transparent member 3 a support 6 is mounted bchind the mirror l0 and carrying the picture 7 This picture may either be a photograph, a diapositive or lantern slide or a projected picture. In the example'shown on the drawing, a projected picture is used. This picture 7 is projected by the projection apparatus 8 on the back side of the translucent screen 9 and is so positioned as to be clearly and sharply defined on the side confronting the transparent member 3 and the back of'the mirror l0. This mirror will only reflect at the middle portion of the transparent member 3 indicated by hatching in the drawing, while the remaining portion of the mirror consists of clear transparent glass. The photographic camera 2 will therefore only be able to reproduce that portion of the projection picture 7 which has notkbeen covered up by the reflecting surface l0 and the remainder will be complemented by the reflection of the actual scenery 4. In the case of the employment of a semitransparent mirror, that portion of the mirror confronting the camera 2 which corresponds to the section l0 is provided with a black coat or mask, in order to produce atl this portion a complete mirror action of the scenery 4 in the apparatus 2. y

In order to be able to photograph the two objects 4 and 7 separately of each other and at different times, the'arrangement may be as shown in Figs. 2 to 5 in which in front of the picture window 11 of the camera 2 a guide 12 is provided adapted for the reception of eX- changeable masks 13 and 14. The finished picture, as appears from Fig. 5, shows a' streetl corner Without the acting' persons which appear at 4. The section 15 included in the dash-and-dot lines corresponds to the object 4 and the surrounding portion 16 of the complemental picture to the object 7.

The procedure is substantially as follows z--One may start with first photographing the object 7 which is a projection picture, a diapositive, photograph-or the like, and for this purpose the mask 13 is inserted in the camera. This mask preferably comprises a thin glass plate or the like upon which that portion 17 which corresponds to the natural object 4 is concealed by a black coat, so that upon the film ribbon 18 only that picture is obtained which corresponds to the section 16 of the picture in accordance with Fig. 5. Thereupon the film ribbon 18 is turned back and, instead of the mask 13, the mask 14 is positioned in front of the picture window 11. Now, the object 4 is photographed by means of the mirror 10, while a black coat 19 covers up the already illuminated portion 16 of the plcture and prevents the action of llght thereon and the portion 15now receives 'the reproduction of the particular portion of the object 4.

In order to produce a proper fitting of the different parts of the tota picture in the mounting and adjusting of the object 4 and of the mirror 10 and the camera 2, the film ribbon 18 is replaced by a ground disc upon which-the exact adjustment of the two objects 4 and 7 and of the mirror 10 is effected.

The invention has been described and shown in its broad aspects and by way of exemplification only and it should, of course, be understood that it is not restricted to any particular form and arrangement of apparatus and parts, except as appears from the appended claims.

It will be appreciated that the specific forms of mechanism shown in Figures 2 to 4 inclusive ,are merely illustrative of means for carrying out the method claimed in this case and which was described and claimed in my Patent No. 1,569,789, granted January 12, 1926 (Reisue No. 16,446, granted October 26, 1926), and of which the present application isa division. l t

I claim:-

1. The art of making composite motion pictures of aset or scene and a second set or scene which is complementary to the first set set or scen e at an angle to the transparent 130 set or scene within range of a camera, masking a portion of sald first set or scene w1th a reflecting surface mounted on a transparent member having a greaterfarea than the refiecting surface, photographing the unmasked portion of the first set'or scene directly through the transparent member on a series of frame of a film while maskingl those portions f the frame which are unaffected by the light rays, arranging the complemenor scene which comprisesdisposing the firsttary set or scene so that an image of said -set have been previously affected by light rays,

and blending the meeting edges of the images into eachother.

2. The art of making composite motion pictures of a set orscene and a second set or scenewhich is complementary to thefirst set or scene which comprises disposingtlie first set or scene within range ofya camera, arranging a transparent member between the camera and the firstset or scene, the transparent member havin a portionof its surface covered with a re ecting member directly facing the camera, with the refiecting member masking a portion of the miniature reproduction, photographingthe unmasked portion of the miniature reproduction directly through the transparent member on a series of frames of a film in the camera, while masking those portion of the frames which are unaffected by thelight rays arranging the complementary X set or scene at an angle to the transparent member and at such a distance from the rev fleeting surface on the transparent member that an image of the second set or scene will be refiected in the camera, and 'photographing the reflected imageA of the second set or scene on the same series of frames of the film and while masking those portions of the frames which have been` previously affectedby light rays and blending the meeting edges of the images into each other. l

3. The art of making composite motion pictures of a diapositive of a set or scene and a second set or Ascene complementary to the set or scene depicted by the diapositive which comprises arranging the diapositive in line with a transparent member and a camera with the transparent member disposed between the diapositive and sai-d camera, ar-

ranging a reflecting surface on a portion of the transparent member so that a portion of the diapositive will be masked by the refleeting surface, then arranging the second member so that an image of the second set or scene will be reiiected into the camera to supplement the unmasked portion of the im- -age of the diapositive, photographing the unmasked portion of the diapositive directly through the transparent member on a series of frames in a. camera, `While masking t-hose portions of the frames Which are unaffected by the light rays then photographing on the same series of frames the refi'ected image of the second set or scene, While masking those portions of the frames which have'been previously affected by light rays, and blending the meeting edges of the images into cach other. l

4. The art of making composite motion pictures of a set or scene and a second set or scene complementary to the first mentioned set or scene which comprises disposing the miniature reproduction Within range of a camera, arranging between the camera and the first set or scene a refiecting surface mounted on a transparent member having a greater area than the reflecting surface that the transparent member Will extend beyond the periphery of the reflecting surface While masking a portion of said set or scene with the reflecting member, masking a portion of a frame in the camera which corresponds to themasked portion of the first set or scene, then photographing directly through the transparent member the 'unf masked portion of the first set or scene, arranging the second set or sc ene so that an image of said set orscene will bereflected by the refiecting surface into the camera, masking that portion of each frame of vthe film comprises arranging the miniature reproduction Within range of a camera, masking a portion of said miniature reproduction with a reflecting surface mounted on a face of a transparent member which is located between the miniature reproduction and the camera,

said face of thetransparent member carrying the reflecting surface being disposed towards the camera, the transparent member having a greater area than the refiecting surface, photographing directly the unmaske-d portion of the miniature reproduction through the transparent member on a series of frames of the film in the camera, While masking those portions of the frame which are unaffected by the light rays, arranging the full sized set or scene in a position so that an image of the full sizfed set or scene Will be reflected into the camera, photographing on the successive frames of the film the reiected image of the full sized set or scene, while masking those portions of the frames which have been previously affected by the light rays, and'blending the meeting edges of the imagesinto each` other. l

EUGEN SCHUFFTAN. 

